Mole Sauce

I omitted the almonds (because of an allergy) and anise seeds (because I couldn’t find them in any of the four shops I went to). I used peanut butter instead of peanuts. I also used a range of fresh and dried chillies and tinned chipotles in adobe sauce. Because I was worried about it being too hot (cooking the sauce was making my eyes water) I removed the chillies before blending and it ended up being quite mild. I made the sauce the day before and it was very, very earthy and quite bitter. I googled ‘how to fix a bitter mole’ and basically determined that mole’s need a lot of sugar and salt to taste good so i kept adding agave syrup and salt until it tasted ok. Approx 1/3-1/2 cup agave syrup and 1-2tsps salt.

As the evening after Valentine’s Day, our dinner on Monday 15th February took the theme of the “Foods of Love”. Or, more specifically, ingredients considered aphrodisiacs, e.g. due to their looks or taste. Jacinta hosted, and provided the savoury dishes along with Laura’s sweet ones.

This recipe formed part of the Citrus dinner. This recipe has been reproduced from memory, so apologies if it isn’t quite right!

Ingredients

1 medium-sized lime

1/2 cup (125mL) popping corn

2 tablespoons (40mL) vegetable oil

1/2 stick (125g) unsalted butter

3/4 cup (190mL) white sugar

2 tablespoons (40mL) honey

1 teaspoon (5mL) salt

Method

Set the oven to 140 degrees Celcius.

Using a fine grater, remove the zest from the lime. Also, juice the lime and set aside.

Line two flat baking trays (or just use one, but do two shifts later) with baking paper.

Pour oil into a large saucepan, and add a few kernels of popping corn. Cover and place over high heat until you hear the corn begin to pop.

Remove from heat, add in all the remaining popping corn, cover and return to heat. Gently shake the saucepan, and continue while waiting for popping to begin and then to decrease to only one pop every couple of seconds. Remove from heat and empty into a large mixing bowl.

Sprinkle the lime zest over the popped corn and gently stir through.

Place the butter, sugar and honey in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat. Do not stir, at least not once the butter has melted. Watch the mixture and wait until it turns a light golden colour, which should take about 2-3 minutes.

Remove from the heat, and carefully pour in the lime juice. Return to the heat and stir until the mixture is smooth and combined, then remove.

Scatter the cooked popcorn over the baking trays, then pour the lime caramel evenly over the popcorn. Place the trays in the oven.

After 8 minutes, remove and gently turn the popcorn so that the caramel is evenly spread. Return to the oven for another 8 minutes.

Remove trays, sprinkle salt over the popcorn and allow it all to cool. Break the pieces apart and store in an airtight container.

This recipe formed part of the dessert for the Citrus dinner, and comes from Christine Manfield’s book Paramount Desserts. I have adapted to sizes to match my bakeware, and fixes a mistake in the original published recipe.

Ingredients – Chocolate Fudge Cake

200g dark chocolate

200g unsalted butter

6 large eggs

150g+150g (300g total) castor sugar

zest of 1 orange (finely grated)

Ingredients – Jaffa Mousse

200mL milk

zest of 2 oranges

4 egg yolks

100g castor sugar

50mL fresh orange juice

150g dark chocolate

2 gelatine leaves

300mL thick (45% fat) cream

Ingredients – Orange Caramel

150mL fresh orange juice

300g castor sugar

100mL water

zest of 3 oranges

Method

Heat oven to 160 degrees Celcius. Grease and line two cake tins measuring at least 30cm x 21cm and ~5cm deep. Note that these tins will need to sit in larger dishes for a water bath. Also, separate the eggs at this point.

Finely chop the chocolate and place it with the butter in a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted, and then set aside to cool a little.

Place the yolks and 150g of sugar in a mixing bowl, and use electric beaters to beat until it is light and frothy.

Place the egg whites in another bowl, and beat until stiff peaks form, then slowly add remaining 150g of sugar while beating slowly to form a light, glossy mixture.

Add the orange zest to the egg yolk mixture and mix through well. Then stir the melted chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture, and then fold in the egg white mixture until combined but don’t over-mix.

Pour the resulting cake batter into the two tins, and then cover the surfaces with a piece of baking paper.

Boil water. Place cake tins into the larger dishes, and position in the oven before pouring the hot water into the water baths. Bake for 20 minutes or until the centre is set, tested by a clean skewer.

After removing from the oven, peel off the baking paper on the tops, remove from the tins, and allow to cook on a wire rack.

Chocolate fudge cakes should be wrapped in cling film and stored in the fridge until ready to be used.

Now make the jaffa mousse, although you may need to clean up the kitchen first if you want to reuse mixing bowls.

Place the milk and orange zest in a saucepan and bring to a simmer before removing from the heat.

Beat egg yolks and castor sugar in a mixing bowl, and use electric beaters to beat until pale and creamy. Strain the orange juice into the mixing bowl, and then whisk it through the mixture. Then slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the bowl while whisking.

Soften the gelatine leaves in a glass of cold water, then remove and gently squeeze the leaves to remove excess water. Stir these into the mixture until dissolved.

Finely chop the chocolate, and place in a plastic bowl, and zap in the microwave on high for 30s at a time, stirring between each. When chocolate is almost completely melted, do not retun to the microwave, and instead stir until all chocolate is melted. Then set aside.

Pour the egg and orange mixture into a metal bowl, and stir over a saucepan of simmering water until the mixture “coats the back of a spoon” and thickens slightly.

Strain the mixture into a mixing bowl through a fine sieve, and discard the zest. Stir the melted chocolate into the mixture. Make an ice bath, e.g. in the sink, and stir the mixture until cool.

Place the cream into a bowl and beat until it is whipped. Then fold the cream into the chocolate-orange mixture. Note that the mixture will set in about 30 minutes, so it is time to press on and assemble the cake.

Line a square-sided 22cm x 9cm x 6cm loaf tin with baking paper, leaving some sticking out the top to aid in removal later.

Remove fudge cake from fridge and cut 1cm thick slices of it to line the bottom, sides and ends of the tin. (Don’t use it all up at this point, though.)

Pour the jaffa mousse mixture into the tin, leaving a space at the top. Place a 1cm thick layer of the fudge cake on the top to seal it all in.

Wrap the whole tin in cling film and place in the fridge for 5 hours to set completely.

The orange caramel can be made shortly before serving, but can also be omitted without compromising the dessert.

Strain the orange juice and set aside.

Boil sugar and water in a saucepan over high heat without stirring until it turns caramel coloured. Keep a close eye on it, the whole time!

Reduce the heat, then carefully pour the juice and zest into the hot caramel, and cook for a few minutes more until the mixture is smooth and well combined.

Remove the saucepan, pour the mixture into a jug and allow to cool to room temperature.

Finally, to serve the jaffa mousse cake, remove from the fridge and unwrap, and pull out of the tin using the baking paper.

Using a hot, wet knife, slice the cake into thin wedges and place on plate with a smear of the orange caramel.